Authorities have released the names of passengers on board a small aircraft that crashed into a Tennessee lake Saturday morning, believing all are presumed dead, including a Christian author and her husband.
The names are William J. Lara, Gwen S. Lara, Jennifer J. Martin, David L. Martin, Jessica Walters, Jonathan Walters, and Brandon Hannah all of Brentwood, Tennessee.
“At 10:53 a.m. Saturday morning, a 1982 CESSNA 501 departed Smyrna Airport heading toward Palm Beach International. Shortly after take-off, the small jet crashed into Percy Priest Lake,” a spokesperson with the Rutherford County Government said in a statement to FOX Television Stations Saturday.
According to NewsChannel5, the aircraft is registered to JL&GL Productions LP, a partnership formed by Brentwood-based Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband, Joe Lara. However, investigators aren’t confirming the registration at the moment.
Gwen was known for founding the Weigh Down Workshop Bible studies. She combined her medical and nutritional background with her dedication to Christianity to found what eventually became the number one weight loss seminar in the world, according to her biography on Remnant Fellowship Church.
Her workshops were hosted at churches across the country and by the late 1990s were internationally known in most Protestant, Catholic, and Evangelical churches. Gwen Shamblin and The Weigh Down Workshop were featured on such shows as 20/20, Larry King Live, and The View, as well as in such magazines as Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Day, according to her biography.
She later offered her principles in several published books and became a national best-selling author.
She also went on to found Remnant Fellowship Church in 1999, which now has more than 150 churches across the globe.
In 2018 she married actor Joe Lara, who is best known for playing Tarzan in the TV series “Tarzan: The Epic Adventures.” He went on to act in almost 20 Tarzan films and other lead roles in films and TV shows through the early 2000s, according to his biography.
The couple, their children and grandchildren all live within a few houses of each other in Brentwood, Tenn. and describe themselves as a “close knit family” who get together practically every day, according to Gwen’s biography.
Between the two of them, they have three children and eight grandchildren.
“The Shamblins, Hannahs and Laras appreciate your concern, support and prayers. As has been reported by the media, some family members may have been involved in a plane accident this morning,” Remnant Fellowship Church said Saturday in a statement to FOX Television Stations.
Meanwhile, authorities are examining the crash site while conducting search-and-rescue operations. Boaters are asked to stay away from the area and assistance from civilians is requested.
Rutherford County Fire Rescue, Almaville and Lascassas Volunteer Fire Departments, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services, Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Smyrna Airport Authority Public Safety, Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management and Stormpoint Disaster Support responded to the scene initially and have since been joined by representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be the lead investigating agency and will have representatives on site Sunday.
